 |
 |
strange godsDear Friend you might try one of our titles 'Jesus the Sorcerer' details below - for other gods and the goddess in early judaism the works of Raphael Patai are a bit of an eye opener - Jesus the sorcerer: Exorcist, Prophet of the Apocalypse By Robert Conner £12.99/$25 isbn 1869928954 pub date: 14 April 2006 The most complete summation to date of the New Testament evidence for magical practice by Jesus and the early Christians. The very notion of Jesus being a sorcerer runs so against the grain of the Western cultural myth that even non-Christians are likely to find it far-fetched or even vaguely disturbing. Nevertheless, scholars steadily accumulated evidence for magi-cal practices in the New Testament throughout much of the 20th century . It is that ever expanding body of knowledge that has made this book possible. This book examines the following: The nature of the earliest Christian documents, the defects of their trans-mission, and the evidence for the suppression of descriptions of magical acts. The closely related problem of the New Testament accounts as historical sources. The radically apocalyptic nature of Jesus’ message and the expectations of the early church. The failure of the apocalypse to occur and the theological reaction to that failure. The role of magic and mystery religion in early Christianity. A revisiting of the story of the "beloved disciple" and what it may tell us about Jesus and suppression of evidence about his life. Documentary Evidence / Infancy Narratives / Confrontation / Resurrection as Ghost Story /Apocalyptic Prophet / Apocalypse Postponed, / Magic and Mystery, / Jesus the Magician / Spirit Versus Spirit, / Ecstatic Inner Circle, / Christian Mysteries, / Secret Gospel of Mark, / Beloved Disciple, / On the Use of youth in Magic, / Apocalypse, Magic, and Christianity, / "son of David." / Mary Magdalene bb/93 mogg : ) .....................................: ) Mandrake.uk.net Publishers PO Box 250, Oxford, OX1 1AP +44 1865 243671 homepage: <http://www.mandrake.uk.net> Blogs = http://www.mogg-morgan.blogspot.com http://mandox.blogspot.com secure page for credit card <http://www.mandrake.uk.net/books.htm> paypal -----Original Message----- From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of James John Bell Sent: 23 April 2007 19:34 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] strange gods I thought someone here might possibly be able to point me towards a good reference regarding early Christian beliefs around the existence of gods. The first commandment as popularly translated (the Jewish & Protestant wording I think) "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." - would appear to indicate that other gods not only exist but are also ok to believe in long as you recognize the Christian God as supreme. Catholics appear to recognize the existence of "strange gods" as in "I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me." Compare this to say the verse in the Qur'an "There is no other god beside God."(47:19) which appears to be explicit that there is only the one God with the capital G. My assumption is that early Christians accepted that "strange gods" existed, similar to how they accepted that "bone-conjurers" could raise the spirits of the dead (King Saul and the shade of Samuel, etc.) Thanks ................................................ james john bell | [log in to unmask] office: 360.898.0041 | mobile: 360.970.2013 80 n. valley drive skokomish nation 98584 ................................................. smartMeme: strategy - training - communications story-based strategies for social change http://www.smartmeme.com http://www.changingthestory.org